


In the Middle of the Night

by badjujuboo (miztrezboo)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Space, Animal Transformation, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-04 18:35:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4148520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miztrezboo/pseuds/badjujuboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr prompt fills! FEATURING:<br/>- lilo kidfic<br/>- lirry space!actors!fic<br/>- lilo karaoke<br/>- lilo/gen animal transformation<br/>- lirry cat adoption</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. lilo kidfic

**Author's Note:**

> from OHHOLLAND

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OHHOLLANDANDHONEY - Louis/Liam, sleepy parents who've been up half the night with a sick kid.

“Call your mum,” Liam says sleepily from where he’s leaning against the doorframe.

Alice has been crying for what feels like a week straight but Louis is determined. He can do this on his own. Well. . . not on his own. He has Liam but Liam’s just as good at getting Alice down as he is at the moment.

“Granny Jay has enough problems with her own babies,” Louis sing songs like he’s been doing for the last. . . Christ, since Liam woke him up a few hours ago so Louis could have a turn at getting her to sleep.

He had to have known it wouldn’t work. If anyone in this relationship was the baby whisperer, it was Liam.

He’d always been the one to get Niall’s twins to sleep when they were born. Harry’d called him to sing to Lola all the way over in LA because for some reason, Liam singing “Goodnight Sweetheart” was like catnip to a kitten. Catnip being more a bloody instant sleeping pill in this case, not something that the babies could get high from.

Christ, Louis was so fucking _exhausted._

Alice hiccoughed and took a deep shuddering breath. Louis held his and he was sure Liam was too.

Her eyes fluttered and closed, echoed by twin breaths releasing from the two adults in residence.

Only to be broken by Alice’s wail of a cry seconds later. Her little hands were fighting in the mint green muslin wrap, face turning beet red as she only became louder.

Louis closed his eyes, hoped the tears that were starting to form there wouldn’t escape if he did so.

“I can’t do this, Li,” he said soft, not entirely sure he wanted Liam to hear over their daughters crying. He rocked her closer to his chest, swayed from foot to foot in all the ways he’d done for all his sisters when they were little. For Ernie whenever they’d been home. He’d had no trouble getting his siblings to sleep. No trouble helping out with Brooklyn or Lux when they were on the road.

“Why am I so shit at this? She’s my own daughter and I can’t. . . I can’t do this!” Louis cried, breaking down into quiet tears himself, running hot down his cheeks whether his eyes were closed or not.

Alice only became louder as Louis felt Liam come to stand in front of them. He let Liam take her from his arms. He didn’t deserve to have her anyway. How could someone who couldn’t even settle his little girl to sleep deserve to hold her? Deserve to love her like he did?

“Oh babe,” Liam whispered as his lips skated over Louis’ cheek. “you can do this. _We_ can do this.”

Louis snorted wetly, even his nose was bloody leaking. “Evidence to the contrary right here, Li.”

“Look at her,” Liam said, Louis could feel him shifting the wrap from around her. “C'mon, Lou. Look,”

He shook his head. If there was one thing Louis hated, it was feeling like a failure. As much as he’d talked himself around this particular subject in the last three days since they’d brought Alice home, he knew it in his heart that he was. With Alice, he was.

“Babe,” Liam said again around shushing Alice softly. “Look at our little girl. She needs us, yeah? She needs both of us.”

Louis opened his eyes and wiped at them with the back of his hand, bringing it down to stroke the crook of his finger against her soft cheek. They were warm to the touch, and nearly as wet as his own. She was so beautiful. Even all red and blotchy and as put out as she was, still utterly beautiful. And theirs. After three years of waiting and hoping all their dreams dashed over and over again, Alice was theirs. She was theirs and Louis was failing her and it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all.

“I thought I’d be good at this, you know? Like, it was always easy when it was other peoples babies.”

Liam chuckled. “Yeah, but you never had to spend every minute with them, did you? Not even with your sisters, really.”

Louis shrugged as Liam finally got her wrap undone, Alice’s little arms batting the air between them, scraping against Louis’ chest.

“She’s telling us what she wants, babe. She just doesn’t have proper words yet, and we aren’t listening as well as we should,” Liam whispered, more to Alice than to Louis. His head bent over their little girl, pressing his lips to her forehead. Louis still thinks her hair will curl like Liam’s did when he was small. It’s got little kinky bits in it now, as dark and thick as it is.

“She’s pretty much shouting at us you donut,” Louis argues in return. “It’s bloody cold in here, why exactly are you taking her clothes off?”

“Ours too, and it’s not that cold. I turned the heat up when I realised you hadn’t come back to bed,” Liam pushed Alice back into Louis’ arms, reaching over his head to pull his shirt off so he’s left in nothing but an old pair of joggers that are near falling off his hips.

“You too now,” he nodded at Louis with that sleepy, charming grin. He took Alice gently from Louis arms, presseing her up against his chest. He was humming what sounded like the chords to something they’d been working on before Alice was born under his breath.

Louis stood there, watching as Alice’s cries softened, wondering if it was true about Liam’s touch, when he caught Liam’s gaze. He looked just as tired as Louis felt, ridiculous dark bags leaving purple shadows under his eyes, wispy fringe falling down in a mess in front of them. Louis was sure his own hair was a bloody birds nest from how he’d been running his hand through it of late. It was killing him not knowing how to fix whatever it was that's making her so upset.

“Shirt, babe.” Liam reminded him and Louis stripped off, crossing one arm over his chest to grab at his elbow. He’d been naked in front of Liam far too many times to count, but this felt different. This was like being stripped bare, letting Liam see just how fucking incapable he felt around their bloody baby right now.

“Come here then,” Liam said, crooking his finger at Louis with a hint of a grin tugging at his lips. “Come let our little girl feel how wanted she is. How safe it is here with her two daddies,”

Louis frowned but stepped closer. It hurt to see Liam looking so at ease, even though their daughter was crying like a bloody fog horn.

“Closer, Lou. Wrap your arms around us, yeah?”

Louis does as he’s told, whining Liam’s name as he switched their daughter about. Her ear pressed up against Louis' heart, skin warm against his own.

“Liam. This isn’t going to-”

Liam hushed him with a kiss. Nothing too much, just a press of lips on lips as he wrapped both his arms around Louis, started rocking all of them from side to side.

“Okay, Miss Alice. You’ve got warm skin, you’ve got both our heartbeats and I’ll even let your Dad choose a song for us to sing to you. You’re surrounded by so much love little one, it’s time you let us love you a little bit more by letting us all have a little bit of sleep.”

Louis snorted at that last bit, but can understand where Liam was going with all of this now. Liam’s sister had mentioned something about how good it is for babies to hear their heartbeats, how skin on skin contact would connect them, make their bond as a family stronger. How’d he bloody forget that?

Right, no sleep. At all.

Louis couldn’t even remember what his bed felt like. Or what closing his eyes to silence sounded like either.

“Louis, a song?”

Louis blinked looking over at Liam, this husband of his. This person who could bring him back from any dire situation with a word, a look, just calling his name. He was so fucking lucky to have him for this. To have him at all really.

“I love you,”

Liam frowned, an actual pout pulling at his lips. “I don’t think I know that one,”

Louis chuckled, rousing a now quietening Alice on his chest.

“Not a song you donut, you. I love you,”

“Oh,” Liam’s smile lit up his face. “I love you, too.”

Louis breathed out hard, the air rushing from his nose shifting the curls on Alice’s head as she snuffled against his chest, her little hand reaching out to pat over the W on his chest piece.

“Now, about that song.”


	2. Lirry - Space!future!au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WICKERSHIRE: lirry 'this isn't goodbye'

His eyes filled with tears that he could barely hold in. Looking at Harry, his were exactly the same.

He reached out, hands curling over Harry’s bare shoulders, thumbs brushing slow over sun warmed skin.

“I know. I know it’s hard and-”

Harry shook his head, wayward curls brushing over Liam’s fingertips. Harry’s grip tightened on Liam’s hips.

“Please, _please_ ,” he broke down, sobs wracking his chest as he fell against Liam’s.

Liam’s arms slipped around Harry, pulling him closer. His lips pressing into the curls atop Harry’s head, the side of his cheek.

“It’s not. It doesn’t have to be-” Harry mumbled, tilting his face to look up at Liam. His green, green eyes were ringed with red, wet lines covering his cheeks. He looked so broken. So utterly hurt, and it was all Liam’s fault.

A voice called from behind them, an engine starting with a loud whoosh that kicked up a cloud of dust around them both. Liam made to stand, forcing himself out of Harry’s hold.

“Please, don’t. . . don’t leave!” Harry grasped at Liam’s legs, rising up on his knees to claw at Liam’s waist once more.

It took everything Liam had to prise Harry’s hands from his body, hold them in his own. His throat ached with emotion, with all the things that had been said over and over in the past few days, weeks since the news had come.

“You know I don’t want to. You know I’d stay here forever if I could,” Liam’s voice was etched with sorrow. His heart hurt and it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all but what else could he do?

“Hurry up out there!” Jade’s voice called once more, shouting above the engine.

Liam looked over his shoulder at where Jade was standing, could barely make her out in the red cloud of earth that lingered in the sky.

“ _Liam_ ,” Harry’s voice broke over Liam’s name, a sound so sorrowful Liam was sure it would stay with him for weeks to come.

He raised Harrys hands to his lips, bent low enough so he could press one lingering kiss there before he truly had to go.

“I lo-” Harry started, Liam shushed him with a searing kiss. A kissed filled with passion and love and all the things that hadn’t been admitted to yet. Just one more time. Just one more to keep a memory of.

Harry looked slightly shell shocked when Liam stood, his chest gleaming in the sunset as Liam took a step back, and another.

“This isn’t goodbye, Harry. Not at all!” he turned and raced toward the shuttle then, Jade waving him on and the sounds of Harry’s sobs getting lost in the engine’s roar.

He kept his eyes on Harry as the doors closed, the last thing he’d see on this planet would be his love. Harry was the one thing he wanted to come home for. The one thing he’d make sure he’d come back to when the war was won.

Liam leant one arm against the shield window, looking down as their planet became smaller and smaller and the sky darkened into stars and the darkness of space.

He’d come back to Harry. Or die trying.

“And cut and print and that’s a wrap!”

Liam grinned, clapping along with the rest of the crew, accepting pats on the back as he headed back to his trailer as fast as possible. His “uniform” was bloody uncomfortable in the outback Australian heat they were filming on. He longed for the air conditioned comfort of the four walls that were his home when they were on location. That and the beer he knew was waiting in the fridge door. If his assistant, Niall, hadn’t drunk the bloody lot.

He waved off Ben as he congratulated him once again on a great scene, reminding Liam they were running through the alien attack part in a few hours, just as the sun was due to set. Liam nodded and smiled and near ripped off the door to get inside and away from them all. He loved his job but, christ, couldn’t he get five seconds alone without someone needing to tell him how good he was or where he was due next? That’s what he had a) his manager, Louis for and b) Niall and his amazing organisational skills.

Before he even had a second to breathe, he was shoved hard against the wall, knocking around the coat hangers for this damn suit. A hard body pressed up against his own, long fingers gliding over his newly shorn hair. Lips - slightly tacky with what was probably that fruity lip balm he favoured - met Liam’s in a kiss that was a bit rushed, had their teeth meeting in what was slightly more painful than as pleasurable as it was likely intended.

Liam grabbed at Harry’s hips shifting them back down the tiny hall.

“Christ, how long did you bloody need to take out there?” Harry asked, biting at Liam’s neck, apologising when Liam cursed.

“I’ve got shirtless scenes tomorrow, Haz. No biting.” Liam pushed Harry back onto the bed, still in the same state as they’d left it earlier that morning.

“Well then, I’ll have to be more creative,” Harry said, tugging his loose trousers and pants down off his legs, lifting his hips up to do so.

Liam snorted, tugging off his coat, folding it before he lay it on the floor. Harry was already bloody half naked by the time he stood back up, cock tenting out the soft trousers they had him wear on set minutes ago. Harry licked at his lips, laughing as Liam fell into the shelving, trying to get his belt off. Bloody Harry, always made him look like a stumbling fool with easy moves like bloody licking his lips of all things.

“Let me, yeah?” Harry asked, batting at Liam’s hands, winking as he looked up at Liam from under his loose curls. “I still owe you for this morning.”

Liam chuckled but it soon turned into a moan. This was the third movie he’d done with Harry. He shouldn’t have been surprised with how turned on the big emotional scenes had his husband reacting by now.


	3. LILO - Karaoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RICTUSEMPRA-IS-RIDDIKULUS: “That asshole stole my song at karaoke night” au Any pairing, but Liam should be the one who's stealing songs. Really Liam/Karaoke is the realest pairing ever.

“I have five songs I like to sing. Five. And how many has that arsehole bloody sung tonight?”

Niall murmurs something that’s more belch than words. His head still lying on the sticky table where it fell an hour ago, two fingers coming up before curling slowly back down, tucked under his chin.

“That’s fucking right. Four. I bet he’s fucking Harry. That’s why he’s been up so many times. It’s not even like there’s that many people left in here!” Louis huffs, sucking hard on his straw but getting nothing but a slip of cold water from where the ice has melted. God, he’s so bloody angry is the thing. He needs a drink.

Louis eyes scan the bar, looking for someone to palm Niall off to. Zayn was supposed to be going out for a quick fag before returning to take Niall off his hands. That was an hour ago. He probably met Perrie out there and they’re shagging in his car. Louis fucking car that is, because Zayn’s is in the shop and Niall’s only got a bloody scooter.

Zayn’ll be cleaning the fucking thing with a toothbrush if he’s defiled it in any way. Louis’ the only one allowed to do that.

Though defiling anything anywhere hasn’t happened for a long while. Too long, really.

That’s what happens when you’re girlfriend up and leaves you and your fifteen month old son early one morning with nothing more than an “I’m sorry” written in pink marker on the fridge door.

Some night out with the lads this is turning into.

At least he knows that Will is sleeping soundly at his Aunt Lottie’s.

Fuck it. He’ll pick Will up at lunch. One more drink and maybe he’ll flirt with Harry a bit and get his turn up on the mic.

“I’ll be right back,” he says to Niall, who doesn’t answer, merely snorts or snores. Louis isn’t sure and he’s not paying all that much attention.

He tips the last chunk of ice in his mouth, chewing on it as he heads toward the bar. Harry’s there, leaning over the counter with a big bloody grin on his face, dimples deep and that tilt to his head which means he’s flirting. Louis may or may not have been caught on the other side of that particular look a few times since Niall had dragged them to this pub. They’d not gone any further than flirting - Louis’ too busy being settled with a girlfriend and then a bub - but maybe he’d take Harry up on it now. Harry wasn’t that bad to look at. Bit too much hair, but Louis knew he didn’t mind tying it up in a bun every so often so maybe that’d work out.

As he steps closer, however, he can get a better picture of who it is that Harry’s flirting with and his blood boils.

He gets his hand on this blokes leather jacket, tugging at his shoulder as he sets his glass down on the bar.

“Oi! Your the arsehole who keeps stealing my songs!” he shouts above someone absolutely murdering Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off.”

The taller lad turns, the bar light from above accentuating the scruff on his jaw, makes his eyelashes look dark and full, his eyes even darker. Jesus.

He tilts his head and smiles, eyes crinkling up as he looks from Louis hand back to Louis eyes.

What was Louis so angry about seconds before?

“Sorry, mate? What songs were they? I never really know what to sing, Harry here’s been choosing them all,” He nods at Harry whose eyes widen before he suddenly looks quite busy with wiping down the bar.

“Harry’s done what?” Louis asks, gaze shifting to where Harry’s now backing off, hands up.

“I’m sorry Louis! It was all Niall’s idea. Not mine!” Harry’s cheeks look like they’re pinking up, even in the dim lighting.

Louis shaking his head. He knew Niall was up to something, but he didn’t think it was as odd as this. He’d mentioned some bloke to Louis a few times, how he thought they’d get along. How nice this fellow was. How he had a great voice and liked Karaoke as much as Louis did. How he was bloody fit. . . if you liked that type of thing. Which, if you were Niall and heavily dated every woman within a five mile radius, then this bloke wasn’t Niall’s type of thing. Though the quick look that Louis had given him when walking over - broad shoulders, great arse if somewhat hidden in those sagging jeans - maybe he was sort of Louis.

“Look, Louis is it?” the bloke asks, hand resting on top of Louis’ where its still lying on his shoulder.

Louis nods. He’s not that impolite. “And you are?”

Louis glares at Harry one last time before turning around. This other lad is looking at him with a much kinder gaze. Louis softens his own, its not as if this lad has anything to do with Louis being annoyed. Not really.

Though he has been singing Louis’ songs.

“Liam, Liam Payne?” He answers, but more like a question, probably waiting for Louis to say something in return but he’s too hyped up to add anything else. The other lad - Liam - smile drops. “Hiya, like, I’ve got one song left, yeah? But it can easily be yours. A duet even if you want to share?”

“I don’t know,” Louis says, breath taken away a bit from the intense gaze Liam is giving him. God, this close, he looks like bloody Beckham. If Louis had a type - which he hasn’t really, not in a awhile - then Liam would definitely fit it. Maybe Niall’s plan wasn’t that bad at all. Get Louis annoyed enough to actually talk to someone that wasn’t in their little circle of friends instead of hiding behind the fact he was a dad at twenty four.

Liam squeezes his hand over Louis’ fingertips. “One song, and I’ll buy you a drink after? If you’ll let me?”

Louis must stare too long or blink too slow or something because Liam is talking again, not before his tongue sweeps out quick over a very plush, biteable looking bottom lip. “I mean, I have been singing all your songs. It’s the least I could do.”

Christ, he’s so bloody _nice_.

Louis finds himself nodding, slowly removing his hand from the other lads shoulder.

“Just one.”

Liam’s face lights up, his dark eyes near lost in how far scrunched up they become.

“But you hit one note off key in this and you’re buying the next two rounds.”

Maybe Liam stealing his songs wasn’t so bad after all.


	4. GEN/LILO - Animal transformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OHHOLLANDANDHELLO - You we're meant to be watching him! Maybe Liam/Louis? But I'm stupidly easy so long as Liam is involved lol

The thing is it’s not entirely Louis fault.

Well, maybe that’s not completely and utterly true but. . .

“I just. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew it from the minute you opened your mouth,” Liam isn’t even looking at him now, just pacing the floor, head raised the sky and arms flailing about.

His shoelace is undone. Louis should probably tell him.

Though the last time he did say anything - which was mostly apologising for possibly the fifteenth time since Liam had got back - Liam talked right over the top and didn’t hear a word.

Probably not going to tell him about the shoelace then.

“I was gone five minutes. Five minutes! and this? This. . . bad idea. It was such a bad idea!” he’s grabbing at his hair now and pulling.

“You’ll go bald if you keep that up,” Louis mouth speaks before his brain can actually tell him not to.

Liam spins and glares at Louis. It actually looks like fire will come shooting out of them he’s so mad.

Louis sinks down lower into his hoodie, pulls his knees up higher to his chest, tucking his toes in under the hem. Liam always laughs at him when he does this, says he looks like he wants to be a mushroom. It doesn’t really make sense but the crinkle eyed smile he gives Louis whenever he does so makes up for it. Louis likes getting Liam to smile.

It doesn’t work this time.

Not that Louis expected it to.

“Did you have your eyes open at all?” Liam asks, stalking over to where Louis’ curled on the lone sofa in the room.

He stands over Louis, arms crossed so his bloody amazing arms pull the thin white shirt tight across his biceps. The thing is, Liam looks insanely hot when he’s angry. It’s why Louis does things like put salt in his tea, or set his phone settings to French. Or that one time he put a foam machine in Liam’s living room and filled the entire thing up. Liam had loved the last one, though. Filled his twitter with photos of him and Loki getting lost in the bubbles.

“You had one thing to do, Louis. One thing!” he shakes his finger in Louis’ face and it’s everything for Louis not to lean forward and bite it.

Maybe one day he’ll tell Liam about the gigantic crush he’s been harbouring for oh, nigh on five years now. Maybe one day he’ll admit to himself that he likes Liam as far more than a friend, far more than a bandmate. Much, _much_ more he probably should. Especially seeing as Liam’s sort of. . . out of his reach. Happily involved with someone that wasn't male, wasn't in the band, wasn't "just a friend." Wasn't anything like Louis at all.

“You were supposed to be watching him! What are we going to do for a lead singer now?”

Louis shrugs, “It’s not as if this is any worse than it was before. How exactly was he going to sing anyhow?”

Liam’s face turns an even brighter shade of red. His mouth drops open and Louis has to wonder if this is it. If he’s finally pushed Liam too far. It’s not exactly his fault. Liam’s the one who left the door open not Louis, but he isn’t about to tell Liam that.

An apology is on his lips - a proper sincere one - when Harry appears at the door.

All long curly hair, lanky body and definitely no spindly Bambi legs or twitchy nose on show. Definitely all human, no baby deer in sight.

He is slightly naked though. Well, Louis isn’t sure you can count the fruit bowl he’s got covering his bits as clothing. Not entirely.

“Um, it happened again didn’t it?” Harry asks as he bumps the door closed with his backside.

Louis nods and Liam relaxes visibly, falling onto the sofa beside Louis, pressing his head onto Louis’ shoulder.

He uncurls his arm and wraps it around Liam. “It’s alright, Payno. Got both my eyes on him now.”

Liam sighs and snuggles in closer with some whispered words that Louis pretends not to notice.

It all worked out in the end, right?


	5. Lirry - "I adopted five cats"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few anon's asked for Lirry: "I may have accidentally sort of adopted five cats."

“Harry, could you come here for a minute?”

Harry sat very, very still.

“Harry,” Liam called again. Harry tried to figure out just how annoyed Liam was by the tone of his voice. He wasn’t shouting. 

Yet.

Harry’s foot was going to sleep from where he’d been sat in the cupboard the moment he heard Liam’s car pull in the drive, his key turn in the front door. He could shift it, but he was pretty sure Liam had no idea that he was in here. It was safe. For the time being.

“Babe? Are you home?” Liam’s voice carried up to the second floor. 

It wouldn’t be long before he started to look for Harry and Harry _still_ didn’t have his excuse sorted. He listened as Liam’s heavy footsteps made their way up the hardwood stairs and along the hall, pausing momentarily at each doorway. Harry tried to slow his breathing, be as quiet as possible, but it wasn’t necessarily _him_ that needed to be quiet. He pulled another of Liam’s hoodies from the shelf behind him and threw it on top of the pile he already had stacked on the upturned wash basket.

Harry turned back around in time to see Liam walking into their room, a frown marring his brow. Harry couldn’t see much more through the thin space where the doors didn’t quite meet. Liam had wanted them to hang new ones, but Harry thought they had charm. He thought the whole house did, really. It was falling apart a bit – that tended to happen in a heritage listed manor – but Harry’d promised he’d find time to tweak bits here and there. 

They both had the skills after all, Harry with his carpentry and Liam with his brute strength and electrics skills. It also helped that Liam’s old school friend was an architect with an eye for the classics. Zayn thought it was a _privilege_ to work on such a stately manor and wouldn’t take a cent in payment for any help. Which was a good thing, really. Considering how much he and Liam had had to lay out just to purchase the bloody thing.

“Where are you?” Liam huffed, walking over to the window that looked out over the yard. 

Harry was contemplating how long it would take for Liam to turn around and head outside to look for Harry – he was usually in his shed at this time – when _it_ happened.

The tiniest, softest, sweetest little miaow.

While Harry had been busy keeping an eye on Liam, the other thing he was _supposed_ to be keeping an eye on had escaped.

Harry held his breath as Liam turned to the sound, bending down with a soft smile. His fingertips stretched out to the tiny grey bundle batting at his feet with its little paws. Liam breathed out Harry’s name on a sigh, shaking his head, slowly stroking the white zig zag strip that ran along its back. 

“Hello there little one, any chance you might know where my Harry is?” 

Another miaow echoed from beside Harry and before he even realised what was happening, its little tortoiseshell body raced out the crack in the door. Liam chuckled, dropping to his knees to hold out his free hand to the new arrival. It was kind of adorable watching Liam with them but that wasn’t what Harry needed to worry about. He turned, and found that the basket he’d _thought_ was hiding the kittens, was now flipped over, pullovers and hoodies everywhere and more importantly . . . empty.

With Liam hopefully distracted, Harry set about finding the other escapees which – of course – meant the second he had them in his arms, Liam opened the door.

“Harry-“ Liam started, Harry freezing on the spot calling back for Liam to stop.

“Just, wait. Um, remember that you said yes, alright?” Harry sat back on his haunches, arms filled with soft fur and very, very sharp claws. 

That was probably Natasha. She wasn’t the friendliest of the bunch, but he couldn’t just _leave_ her. Not by herself. 

“Said yes to one, Harry. I can see two more tails from under your arms there,” Liam said in a voice that sounded long suffering and also quite fond at the same time. 

Really, he shouldn’t have expected Harry to go to the shelter and come home with just _one_ kitten. Really, he’s very lucky that Harry held out from walking down past the puppies and rescue dogs. 

He’d had to set his eyes forward from where they’d had the miniature goats penned up at the side of the building. Sad little bleats and cute little faces. . . maybe he could convince Lia they had the room when they took the kittens back for their check ups in a few weeks.

“Four kittens, Harry? We agreed on-“

“Five. Five actually. I couldn’t let Steve stay just because he was the runt. And anyway,” Harry argued, turning around slow, giving up on holding the kittens close to his chest. Bruce had just about escaped anyway, Harry barely keeping a hold of one foot as he stretched out his long body to touch the soft carpet below. 

“Five?” Liam squeaked out, more of an exclamation than a question and not entirely sounding happy about it either.

Harry pouted, it tended to sway things his way when he hit Liam with a good pout. That or his dimpled smile seemed to work wonders when Liam was stressing over something. Like buying a bloody dilapidated manor in the Cumbrian countryside. Or telling their parents that they were both gay at Harry’s Nan’s eightieth birthday party when they were sixteen and Liam wasn’t sure how his family would react. (Karen cried, Nicola and Ruth rolled their eyes because they’d “known for ages” and Geoff had just hugged Liam tight for around half an hour). Or when Harry’d wanted to go to Ibiza for the winter and Liam had thought they should save a few quid and stay home. Or like now, when Harry’d gone and adopted five kittens instead of the one older cat they’d agreed on. 

“Don’t do the thing with your face, Harry. It’s not going to work this time.” Liam frowned, Thor curled up in his arms as Natasha ran at Bruce, butting the ginger kitten in the shoulder before wrestling out the door. Tony escaped Harry’s hold, stalking over to where Steve was now chewing on Harry’s favourite knit jumper. It was an easy fix, a few stitches and no one would know the difference.

Then Tony tugged a little too hard, rolling right onto his back for a few little roly poly’s taking the maroon wool with him and pulling the hem wide apart.

Well. . . the kittens would need something soft to sleep on. It wasn’t as if Harry didn’t have any other all organic lambs wool pullovers now was it? Maybe two more. But not in that colour.

“I’m not doing anything with my ‘face,’ Liam,” Harry squawked, attempting to sound innocent. And failing if Liam’s frown deepening was any indicator.

“You are and as cute as these little ones are, Jesus, Haz. How can we look after them all?” Liam sighed, bringing a sleeping Thor up to his face, brushing his nose against the sleeping kittens soft cheek.

“I’m home, it won’t be that hard. They’ll pretty much entertain each other. That’s what the lady at the shelter said. That they’d be better off together.” She had said they’d entertain each other. She just hadn’t actually mentioned all _five_ of them. . . more along the lines of two.

“They’re a family, Liam. You wouldn’t want me to split up a family would you?” Harry asked, knee walking closer to Liam, picking up a dozing Bruce from where he was beginning to curl up in Harry’s discarded brown suede Chelsea boot. 

“Well, no,” Liam said soft, tone pitched a bit higher than normal. A bit like how he would sound talking to Niall’s nephew, Theo, on the phone, or Lux when she was small. He made the mistake of using that tone on her the previous weekend at her tenth birthday party and was rewarded with quite the mouthful and a punch in the arm. This was followed by a verbal lashing on the importance of speaking normally to children for their language development from a heavily pregnant and uncomfortable Gemma. 

Family alright.

Harry leaned in, widening his eyes appropriately and perfecting his sad eyed look that Liam had complained was too much like Puss in Boots from those Shrek movies. A look he was incapable to resist. Most of the time.

“I’ve already given them names, yeah?” Harry said, rushing on as Liam’s face fell a tiny bit. “You’ve got Thor and I’ve Bruce. The black one hiding mostly under our bed is Natasha. The tabby is Tony and the runt of the bunch, that little blue grey one is Steve.”

The corner of Liam’s mouth twitched into the beginnings of a grin. “You called them after the Avengers?” 

Harry nodded, that tight feeling in his chest on just how Liam’s reaction was going to turn, sliding away, replaced with something warm. Something that had him smiling properly in return. “Well, yes. They’re our cats. And there were five of them so. . . .” he lead off, with a shrug.

Liam reached out with his free hand, sliding his fingertips soft over Harry’s jaw, cupping his cheek. Harry leaned into his touch, looked up through his lashes to where Liam’s dark brown eyes were gazing back at him fond. “Harry,”

Harry shrugged again, a heated blush rising to the surface of his skin where Liam was holding his face. “Well, I thought you’d appreciate that more than Friends characters. Though there’s only one girl in the bunch, not that a name has to _mean_ anything. I wouldn’t want to force restrictive expectations on any of them-“

Liam stilled Harry’s diatribe with a kiss. Harry licked over his lips, a little stunned when Liam pulled back. “You really are too much, you know?”

“I couldn’t take one and leave the others. What if. . . we already talked about what we’d do if Nicola has more than three. I just, I thought it should apply here, too. Practice and all,” Harry said, his throat tightening a bit mentioning a future that was coming to them in the New Year, now Nicola and her husband were done having their own children. How amazing it was that she’d offered to surrogate for them. The kitten (as opposed to kittens) was supposed to be a trial. Well. . . they already had Liam’s dogs but they were from before they really were a couple proper so a kitten was a compromise on adding to their little family before they added another human to the bunch.

“Practice,” Liam returned with a laugh, leaning in close to Harry once more. “Does that lend to other forms, as well?” 

Harry nodded, heart beating fast as he placed Bruce on the floor, pushing at his backside to get him out the door. All the other kittens had wandered out. Even Thor had climbed out of Liam’s arms now, probably annoyed with having his sleeping space invaded with Liam closing the gap between him and Harry like he did. 

“Just close the door, yeah?” Harry asked, hands already busy tugging at Liam’s shirt, dragging it out of his trousers. “Can’t have the kids watching, don’t think that’d be appropriate at all.”

Liam chuckled as he pressed a hand back, clapping against the door.

Harry wasn’t too upset about the scratches in the timber work when they finally resurfaced a good hour later. The holes chewed in his favourite Saint Laurent scarf were another matter entirely, though.

**Author's Note:**

> Have more prompts? visit [HERE](http://www.slightlytotheleft.tumblr.com)


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